Sapphire and Gold
by Toku Tenshi
Summary: [sequal to 'Lavender and Pink] Dashi has returned, but somethings wrong. The Marai timeline has been infested with some sort of creatures and no one knows where they came from. (terrible summary, very late with the sequal, but at least its here)
1. Resurrection

The awaited sequel to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z is the product of Akira Toriyama's thoughts and efforts. I take no credit for his hard work.

Chapter 1: Resurrection

Dashi stirred and opened her eyes, slowly taking in the orange and pink surroundings of a setting sun. Plastic sheets shifted in the wind where walls should be as the girl pulled herself off the bare wood floor. "Where... am I? What's going on?" Dashi walked to one of the large sheets and pulled up a corner, looking outside in the failing light her confusion grew. Destroyed building, piles of rubble, and construction sites where the only things she could see and she starred in disbelief. Dashi dropped to her knees and let the sheet fall into place. "Is this my fault? Why don't I remember?"

Deciding it best not to soar in an unfamiliar sky, the teen sought out the stairs and headed to the ground level. She stepped outside as the sky fell dark with bare feet and headed for the gap in the wooden fence. This building seemed to be one of many under construction with a dirt path through them all. Dashi followed the path diligently, hoping it would lead to a larger, more used, road. The crunching of dirt and pebbles was all that could be heard as the teen walked steadily along the road. She turned sharply to the right at a sudden noise. An animal? The wind perhaps? Dashi slowly turned back and continued walking forward but stopped when the noise returned, this time to her left.

Dashi didn't know what to expect. She began walking faster, trying to put distance between herself and whatever was making the noises, but they matched her speed. Dashi kicked off of the ground, deciding that flight, even in unfamiliar darkness, was best - she fell flat on her face.

In a second, two creatures were on top of her. They seemed to be human, but that didn't make them safe to be around. Dashi struggled as they tried to hold her still - one scratching her neck, or something - and managed to hit one in the face and get up, running as fast as she could. Her hand ached as she ran towards the now visible paved road and passed under street lights. The teen turned onto the road and started to cry for help, something she hadn't done in a very long time. Without warning, Dashi was slammed into and knocked through a window - all she saw was the ground spin and glass shatter as she rolled across the dirty tile floor. She got up slowly at first, but then remembered her attackers and glanced around furiously. The night was quiet and still.

Dashi stood and limped over the shards of glass and climbed out through the window being careful not to cut herself anymore on the jagged remains. She called out again as she hurried down the street. There seemed to be no one around, no one to help her. The pink-haired teen could hear the creatures behind her, obviously enjoying the mind games they were playing, and speed up. Her leg failed her as it gave out in mid run, causing Dashi to spin to the ground and roll off the road. Before the girl could look up, the creatures stood above her with evil grins. Dashi was scared and confused. She didn't understand where she was, how she got there, or why she was so helpless. The humanoids stepped closer and Dashi braced for the pain they would soon deliver. In its stead, she heard flesh tear and felt a cold spray. The girl opened one eye, then the other, and lifted her head up. The creatures were gone - or rather - no longer as they once were. A pile of charred body parts lay in a pool of dark liquid and Dashi felt lightheaded, whish was odd as she had scene worse sights than this in her days.

"Smurf beasts, they're everywhere now!"

Dashi's eyes widened at the voice and she turned her head sharply to its owner. A teenage boy stood in front of the mound, wiping his sword clean before placing it back in its scabbard. Dashi tried to stand, but feel back against the dirt. The male turned quickly, holding his blade before him. His sapphire eyes widened and his blade was clumsily put away once more.

"Dashi... is... are you..?" The lavender-haired teen made his way to the fallen girl and helped her up, looking into her eyes, searching.

Dashi saw confusion, hope, worry, and several other emotions flicker in his eyes. The girl smiled weakly as she stood in his grasp and tried to hold back tears. "Hello, Trunks." The boy pulled Dashi into a tight hug, which she quickly returned. She squeezed out all of the fear and confusion. Where ever she was, now that Trunks was there, it was the best and safest place in the universe.

----------------

End chapter 1:

SA: sorry it took so long guys... I moved and I had to retype this, like, four times! The important thing is, it's typed and the story is ready to continue.


	2. Comfort

The awaited sequel to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z is not mine... word, yo.

Chapter 2: Comfort

Trunks opened his eyes quickly, finally remembering where he was and knowing that it wasn't safe. He reluctantly let go of Dashi and pushed her back lightly, but quickly grabbed her hand. Inside, Trunks wasn't sure if Dashi was truly there and he feared that if he let go of her, even for an instant, she might vanish. Dashi lifted her head and looked at Trunks with her golden eyes - the very ones that had haunted Trunks for so many nights - in silent confusion. "We need to get out of here; let's go back to Capsule Corp." The teen turned east and lifted from the ground only to stop at the dead weight hanging from his left hand. He looked down at Dashi as she clinged for dear life ten feet from the ground. Trunks landed softly and gave Dashi a puzzled look.

"I... I don't know why," Dashi stuttered while tugging at the hem of her shirt with her free hand, "but I can't fly. It's as if... I don't have any power at all. I mean, when those things attacked me, I should have been able to fend them off but I couldn't. I was helpless... until you came that is." The girl looked up sheepishly at Trunks, unsure of what to do.

Trunks smiled at Dashi and grabbed her other hand. He guided her hands around his neck and when they where in place the teen bent slightly and picked up Dashi in his arms, 'over the threshold' style. He smiled at Dashi as she blushed and he was sure he was doing the same. "Come on, let's get home. We can figure out what happened once we get to C.C." Once again, Trunks kicked off from the ground and headed east. The pair was silent and neither minded. Both just seemed to bask in the other's presence.

When they landed at Capsule Corp, everything was still. Trunks opened the door with Dashi still in his arms and walked down the dark hallway with as much ease then if the lights were on. Dashi felt like a bride being taken to her honeymoon suite and the mere idea of that sent her face on fire. She dared a glance at Trunks but couldn't make out his features in the darkness. If she could have, then she would have noticed the simular inferno on his face.

"Everyone is asleep," Trunks whispered. "We have some guests here; I'll introduce you in the morning." The teen opened another door and stepped inside. He walked over to a bed and finally set Dashi down but still held her hand. 'On the count of three...' Trunks took a deep breath. '1... 2... 3.' Trunks closed his eyes and released Dashi's hand. He didn't want to open his eyes... what if she wasn't there when he opened them?

"Trunks?" Dashi whispered softly, wondering why he was standing there so still.

The half-saiyajin's eyes shot open and fell on Dashi. Starlight drifted in through the small window and shone softly on Dashi's worried features. Trunks smiled and exhaled the air he didn't know he was holding. "You're still here." He turned and headed for the door.

Dashi stood up quickly. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go sleep on the couch. All of the extra rooms are filled up with guests, so I-"

"Don't you have a room?"

Trunks gave a half shrug. "This is my room, but you can go ahead and use it-"

"What? No!" Dashi covered her mouth and hoped she didn't wake anyone. She stepped closer to Trunks and tugged him away from the doorway. "If anyone is sleeping out there it's me," she said calmly in a much quieter voice. "It's not fair for me to steal your room."

Trunks shook his head. "No one will know you, who knows what they might do if they find some stranger inside the house."

Dashi sighed in defeat and leaned against the open door. "Fine, I guess I'll sleep in here." Trunks started for the exit again, but Dashi held up an open palm, signaling him to stop. "You aren't sleeping out there either." Trunks gave her a confused look. "There's room for both of us in here. You take the bed and I'll sleep on the floor. Nope, don't want to hear it." Trunks had opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut.

The teens set up a place on the floor for Dashi with extra blankets that acted as a cushion against the cold floor. Trunks insisted Dashi took the pillow and she could hardly decline as she had gotten her way on the previous two matters. Dashi liked being like this. It felt like before, when there was nothing wrong and feelings were still growing, falling asleep while studying. With the happy memory in her mind's eye, the pink-haired girl drifted off.

--

Dashi woke with a start. There was no room, no Trunks, no anything. It was cold and black, yet familur. Tears sprang to the girl's eyes as she remembered the place. This was where she had been for so long. The dark, cold, miserable place was empty, as it always was. Trunks wasn't there. Dashi broke down and hugged herself. "It... it must have been a dream," she sobbed to the emptiness. "I should have known better than to think I could go back. This is my punishment for everything I've done, I need to get used to that..."

--

Trunks didn't go to sleep, he couldn't. He just lay there – head resting on his crossed arms – staring at Dashi. Every night he had dreamt of her coming back and, now that she had, he wasn't sure if he had any dreams left. He smiled at her sweet expression, but frowned when it left and contorted into something completely different. Dashi started to cry and twist around, kicking the blanket off of herself without realising it. "Dashi," he whispered softly as she began to shed tears.

The teen climbed off the bed and lifted Dashi into his arms, grabbing the pillow on his way up. He gently set her on the bed with the pillow and turned around to collect the blanket she had thrown but Dashi grabbed his shirt. "...don't..." She mumbled out half-awake. Trunks took her hand and brushed pink strands from her face.

"Alright," he whispered, not sure if she could hear, "I'll stay right here." Trunks layed down on top of the blanket next to Dashi who was snuggly set under the sheet. Dashi lazily wrapped her arms around Trunks and snuggled close, making Trunks blush ever so slightly. Trunks didn't know if Dashi was asleep or not, and he didn't care either. The demi-saiyajin smiled and slid a single arm around the girl. His eyes closed and he found that night that he did have some dreams left, but that didn't mean Dashi wasn't still in them.

End chapter 2:

SA: woo, I was on a roll! I started, and just couldn't stop until it was finished at looks at clock holy crud! 12:28 AM?! Well... at least it's longer then the last one, right? Please r&r, and I don't mean 'rest& relaxation'.


	3. Questions

The awaited sequal to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

by Toku Tenshi

disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are not mine. Dashi is though, so, yeah....

A/N: ah, shibi chicken, my faithful reveiwer... and also the last reviewer to read my Lavander and Pink story... so what happened to everyone else? I sent them all emails, but I got 8 messages back saying that the 'inbox could not be found'? I even went as far as to recheck every single reveiw and read member bios, but some emails i guess just aren't used anymore...

shibi chicken, so many questions! all will be revealed.

chapter 3 : Questions

The sunlight flooded Bulma's room and stung at her eyes. She rolled over in bed and gave a powerful yawn, still clinging to that last bit of sleep. The light was persistant and finnally won, forcing the woman to climb out of bed and go about her morning routines. Half way through brushing her teeth, Bulma realised that she hadn't seen Trunks before falling asleep last night. He said he'd make a round and then come back, but he didn't wake her up when he got back as he usially did. Worried about her teenage son, Bulma quickly rinsed her mouth out and pulled on a robe - she didn't want her guests to see her pjs. The mother marched down the hallway, tieing her robe as she went, and threw open Trunks's bedroom door. She sighed in relief at her son's sleeping form, but faulted as she noticed another body on the bed.

At some point during the night, Trunks must have gotten cold as he was now under the blanket. He slowly opened his eyes at the sound of the door hitting the wall. Trunks looked over at Bulma and blinked the sleep from his eyes. His mother was standing in the doorway with a very odd expression on her face. It was somewhere between horrified and confused and it wasn't directed entirerly at Trunks. The teen was about to ask what was wrong, when Dashi turned over next to him. He jumped and fell out of bed, kami knew what was running through Bulma's head.

"Trunks," Bulma started as she closed the door, "Who is that?" She tried hard to stay calm. Her son might have a perfectly good reason for this situation.

The teen sat on his floor and took a deep breath. "Mom, this is Dashi. I found last night and brought her over. We slept together beca-"

"You slept with someone you only met last night?!" Bulma screeched, cutting off her son before he could explain further. "Oh kami, Trunks! I thought I taught you better than _that_! Granted, we never really talk about intercourse awhole lot, but still I-"

"Whoa! WHAT?! Mom, its not like that! I swear, it's not what you think!" Trunks waved his hands around in defense, his face a cherry red. He knew it looked bad, but he didn't think Bulma would jump to _that_ conclusion so quickly!

Dashi woke up then, her vision clearing on the blushing, panicing Trunks. She heard two voices yelling back and forth; one she knew was Trunks and the other sounded familure, but different somehow... She sat up and looked at the other person, studying the features of the face, the blue hair. Dashi gasped as she realised it was Bulma, but she was so much older than she remembered. The woman's face - which had been so loving and happy - was now slightly creased with lines of pain and just seemed so very tired. Dashi didn't know what was going on or what happened in the time she was away, but she did know that she needed to find out. The girl climbed out of bed and walked straight over to the older woman, ceasing the argument between mother and son.

Bulma prepared to start yelling at the stranger, tell her off and throw the hussie out, but Dashi looked at her with such a knowing, yet confused, expression, that Bulma stayed quiet. The girl's gaze then drifted to Bulma's calised hands and she grabbed one in her own. "Bulma... what happened to you?" The woman was taken back. She had never seen this girl befor in her life, but Dashi was acting as if she knew Bulma very well. As if they were friends.

With Bulma finnally quiet, Trunks stood up and walked over to the females. His mother released her stare at the girl and shifted to Trunks. "Mom,"Trunks began once again, "I met Dashi when I was going to school in the past." Dashi looked at him curiously, but he didn't see. "We've been through alot together and after she died I waited around for everyone to summon Shenlong and bring her back, but it couldn't be done. That's why I came back later than I was supposed to. She showed up in the Gaian district last night so I brought her back here. Every room was filled up and Dashi wouldn't let me sleep on the couch, she said it wasn't fair for her to steal my room."

Bulma was taken back. She had always thought that something more had happened when Trunks was away, but he had never said anything about it before. Sure, he told her about the amazon cult, but he never mentioned how they beat Jimi or anything about this girl. "Did... did this girl die while fighting Jimi?"

Trunks nodded, his eyes on the floor. "Dashi was the one who defeated her, but the technique she used cost her life. If... if she had only-" Trunks stopped and took a calming breath. Even though Dashi was back, her death was still too painfull to remember. Trunks and Bulma both turned to Dashi who was sitting on the bed, head bowed.

"I... I died?" She looked up with tears brimming her eyes in utter confusion. "Trunks... what's going on? I don't understand..." Dashi clenched the blanket and shook her head. Everything was so wrong. Nothing made any sence. Trunks rushed over to Dashi and placed a hand over hers. The hand relaxed and released the blanket.

"You didn't know? Dashi, what do you remember?"

The saiyajin looked into Trunks's eyes and made a small whimmering sound. "I... I remember forcing out my pure ki, all of it, to defeat Jimi, but after it left me... everything went blank. I remember floating in darkness, slowly gaining more and more movement of my body and remembering more and more about my life. It felt like forever, just being there with nothing but my memories. I thought I was being punished... for what I did. I thought-" Dashi looked away, "I thougt I had messed up again. I thought I had destroyed Earth... I thought I killed you..."

Trunks pulled Dashi into his arms, and shook his head. "No, no. You didn't do anything wrong. The planet was saved because of you. You did absolutly nothing wrong." Trunks rocked Dashi slightly and rubbed her back. 'How could she have thought that? She must have been so misserable...'

Bulma leaned against the door and watched the scene before her. She knew now that Trunks cared for this girl and they had done nothing bad last night, just sleeping. An idea hit Bulma, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to break the mood. She coughed lightly, startling the teens and causeing them to seperate with pink cheaks. 'They're so cute.' She thought with a smile. "I was thinking... that thing you did to stop Jimi, you said you used all your good ki, right?" Dashi nodded and wiped a tear from her eye. "Well, maybe the reason you couldn't be wished back is because your ki was so spread out, your energy signal couldn't be registered and that dark place you were in, maybe that was just your ki gathering back together. That makes sence, right?"

Trunks looked at his mother and nodded slowly. "Shenlong did say he couldn't bring Dashi back because he couldn't find her..." Bulma smiled at herself. She had always been good with solving things. "So then, maybe that's why you can't fly, Dashi. Maybe some of your ki is still gathering."

Dashi nodded slowly, it did seem to make sence but there was still something she didn't understand... "Trunks... who's Shenlong and why is Bulma older than I remember?" Bulma gave her son a look.

"You didn't tell her where you were from, did you?" Bulma knew that under normal circumstances, Trunks shouldn't have told but he obviously has strong enough feelings for Dashi that the other timeline would not only wish her back to life for him, but send her through the timestream too.

The room was quiet. Trunks slowly started to laugh nerviously. "Well, it's kinda hard to explain Mom... Befor the battle with Jimi, I thought I was going to have to leave Dashi there so I was sorta distancing myself from her... ya know, to make it easier for when I left."

Dashi leaned her head on Trunks's shoulder. "So that's why," she smiled shyly and closed her eyes. "I thought that you didn't want anything to do with me. But still, could someone please explain? It can't be any odder than my past was." She sat up and looked at the two Breifs. "Please?"

Bulma opened the door and stepped through. She turned back to the room and gave Trunks a stern look. "I am going to get breakfast ready. I expect you to straighten this thing out, mister, by the time I'm done." Bulma closed the door and headed back to her room to change.

Trunks looked at Dashi and held her hand in his, gently rubbing his thumb across the back or her hand. "Alright. years ago, when I was still a baby, there where these androids called Number 17 and Number 18... "

end ch3


	4. Breakfast

The sequel to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are not mine. Dashi is though, so, yeah...

A/N: Sorry for the wait, school semester finals and all...

Chapter 4: Breakfast

An hour later, Dashi and Trunks made their way to the kitchen. Dashi was still absorbing everything Trunks told her, all the death and destruction, all the pain... she felt a pang of guilt for how she acted in the 'past'./ Trunks had lived such a hard life, as had Dashi, and under normal circumstances - concerning normal time flow - the two might have never met. That thought struck Dashi at her core and she looked up at Trunks, 'I can't imagine life without him... I don't even remember how I survived before we met.' The girl took her peers hand, causing him to jump slightly but soon tightened the grip himself. It was strange to think how these two passengers of time distortion were so alike.

Bulma looked up as the teenagers walked in the room with a tired smile on her face. "Guys,

"She said, commanding the attention of the table's occupants. The men looked up and turned to the newcomers; one man mindlessly chewed on a piece of toast and merely glanced over. "Dashi, this is Sutlach, Lavosh, Raita, Zuppa, and Flan." Each man raised his hand or made some sort of acknowledgement, Raita dared to wink which caused a barely audible growl from Trunks. "These guys are working on the re-construction of C.C., so instead of them traveling each morning and night I'm just letting them bunk here. And guys, this is Dashi. She's Trunks girlfriend" both teens blushed and Bulma quickly corrected"-I mean, his friend that's a _girl_." She hadn't meant to label Dashi so quickly as she was still unclear on the teens' relationship, but the damage had already been done.

The table erupted in chatter. "'bout time you snagged one, Trunks"

"When'd _he_sneak off and find a chick"

"I thought Trunks had been acting weird lately..."

Trunks blushed and waved away the remarks, trying to calm the pseudo older brother down, but they just wouldn't shut up! The comments and questions kept coming and Trunks was beginning to have enough. "Just can it already" He shouted louder than he meant to, silencing the chatter instantly. It was always fun to tease Trunks but these guys knew what he could do, I mean, he took out the androids for goodness sake! Imagine the damage he could inflict on these mere construction workers.

In the quiet Dashi scanned the room for the short head of Tra. She was about to ask Bulma were the chibi was, but then she remembered. Tra wasn't there. Everything was different. Only Trunks remained from the life she knew. The thought caused Dashi to cling to Trunks's arm. Lavosh started to whoop, but an icy glare from the lavender-haired teen stopped that. "Lay off, she's been through a lot."

Sutlach scoffed"Who hasn't?" The room was quiet once again only to be broken by the beeping of a watch. "Time to get working crew" Sutlach said while taking one last bite of breakfast and rising from his chair. The others quickly followed suit and waved to Bulma. Raita, never the brightest crayon in the box, winked at Dashi once again as he passed.

-

Dashi sat on a stool in Bulma's newly revamped lab, hands to herself. There were so many unfinished devices and equipment lying around that looked fragile enough to break if breathed on. Dashi felt odd around this new Bulma. The old Bulma, that's not to say the old_er_ Bulma, had shared so many things with Dashi, they had become very good friends and now it was like it had never happened... techniqually it didn't, in this timeline anyways. It was weird that the friendship had to start all over when Dashi felt that she was already a friend. The reason Dashi was even in Bulma's lab as the woman tinkered with various contraptions is this: Trunks was called out to the Erun district to take care of one of a creature that had been sighted and the teen wouldn't let Dashi come, especially since she could no longer protect herself and Dashi couldn't very well be left alone in such an unfamiliar place. So, there she sat in Bulma's lab, trying to make small talk, subconsciously trying to jar Bulma's memories about things that never happened.

"I'm sorry, but could you please be quiet? This is important stuff here" Bulma ordered in her usual commanding manner. Dashi was taken back, but nodded and kept silent as the older woman studied a piece of burnt flesh, trying desperately to extract a DNA sample. If she could only figure out exactly what the creatures were, then maybe she could find a better and safer way of destroying them... or even find out where they came from. They seemed to just pop up out of nowhere one night in a small number, but grew exponentially over the next month. Bulma sighed and leaned back from the sample, rubbing her tired eyes. 'Can't the world ever just be at peace for than a few years?' She turned around in the swivel chair only to find that her guest was gone. She sighed, feeling bad for snapping at the new girl when all the poor thing was trying to do was be friendly. "Why am I such a smurf sometimes" She groaned out to the empty room.

End chap 4

SA: AH! I'm sorry it took so long. I told you 'soon' and here it is 2 or so months later... ;

Dashi: Well, yes, that was quite unthoughtful. Shame, shame, bad author.

SA: I said I was sorry! TT Don't be so mean!

Dashi: ... sigh -


	5. Lost and Found

The sequal to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

by Toku Tenshi

disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are not mine, they belong to Akira. No, not THAT Akira.

A/N: Well, I had just checked on the review from last chapter and shut down the PC. It was late(ish) so I decided to go to bed. I went in my room, shut the door, turned off the lights, sat on my bed, lifted up the blanket, leaned back and WHAM! Hit my head on a wall I forgot was there. I took it as a sign to work on chapter 5... :

pops some asprin

now then, I had a secret reader all this time! ThePeople, you are so sneaky! but, thanks for finally reveiwing, I like reviews. Thank you to the others too, but enough of this junk, lets get to the story! (if you haven't already scrolled past this.)

chapter 5: Lost and Found

Trunks landed softly on the former lawn of Capsule Corp with a slight hop and walked through the door. The teen had taken out the creature easily - you see, it wasn't that they were super strong or anything, but it was their sheer number and the little oddities about them that made them so dangerous to the common human. Trunks, of course, is not a common human, but that dosen't mean he should take any chances. There have been several cases about someone being attacked by a pack of the beasts and never scene again - which is odd considering that the beasts have never been seen eating anyone. That's not to say that there haven't been droths of mangled corpses stren about. That was another thing people often called up Trunks to help with, burring (often times just cremating) the bodies. He didn't much like doing that.

Bulma intercepted Trunks as he headed for her lab, she was ringing her hands and craning her neck around as she went. "Oh, Mom. Something wrong" Trunks stopped and looked around himself"Mom, where's Dashi? I thought she was with you"

"See, here's the thing" Bulma rubbed her brow and closed her eyes. "She _was_ with me, but I kind of scared her off. I was trying to extract DNA from that last sample you got me and, well, she was bugging me! I told her to shut up and the next thing I knew, she was gone. I couldn't very well just stop working, I had to put everything away safely and then I got the guys to help me look. As far as we can tell, she's not in C.C.."

"She's not here? Well, where then" Trunks was paniced and fruastrted at the same time. Bulma had been too involved in her work to notice Dashi leave? And where would Dashi even go? She dosen't know this place! Trunks spun around and headed out once again. From his vantage point in the air, it didn't take long for the demi-saiyajin to find missing girl. Dashi was sitting on the far side of the roof of Capsule Corp, feet proped against the edge of the window she most likely climbed out of. Trunks was next to her in a second.

"Oh! You're back"Dashi smiled sweetly, oblivious to the comotion she had caused. Dashi stood up slowly on the sloped roof, but managed to balance against the window rim. Trunks had an odd urge to scream at the girl for making him worry, but decided against it and just gave a sigh of relief. "Something wrong"

Trunks gave a half smile. "Oh, no, you just gave Mom, the gang, and myself a heart attack because no one knew where you were, nothing big" He said while scratching his head.

Dashi winced slightly. "I'm sorry, Bulma said I was disterbing her and I wanted to stay out of the way... I didn't mean to make everyone worry."

"You really shouldn't go outside on your own, Dashi. Especially if you don't tell someone where you're going." Trunks finished his mini-lecture with a smile and offered Dashi a hand. The girl rubbed the back of her neck and looked down at the window she had climbed out of. Unsure if she could get back in the same way, she took Trunks's hand and quickly wrapped her arms around him. The teens made a gentle landing on the ground but found it hard to let go of eachother.

Dashi closed her eyes adn placed her head on Trunks's chest. "Trunks... what am I supposed to do here? Without the rest of my ki I can't even leave Capsule Corp and I only seem to bother everyone inside."

"Don't let Mom get to you, she's just been really stressed about finding the source of the creatures. She'll warm up to you, the guys too." 'Though I hope not too much,'He added as an after thought.

Dashi laughed lightly and let go of Trunks. "Don't worry, I'm sure they won't try and pull anything. You seemed to scare them quite abit this morning."

"Wha"Trunks stepped back and looked at Dashi. He had a theory and he needed to test it. 'We better get back inside then.'

"Yeah, I guess. Shouldn't make the others worry anymore."Dashi started walking to the door, but stopped when she noticed Trunks wasn't moving, he was just standing there with a grin on his face. "What is it"

Trunks shook his head and caught up with the girl. "Dashi, we're bonding again." The girl was shocked for a moment, but quickly started beaming. They entered CC and endured a second scoulding, the kind only a mother is capable of, but despite the finger shaking and guilt tripping Dashi couldn't help but smile through the whole thing. Can you blame her?

end chap 5:

SA: See! It took less then a month to get this done and its all thanks to bonking my head. heh, I should hit my head more often if it will get my creative groove on!

proceeds to whack head on wall

Bulma: oooh... that might not be the best idea. Won't you be needing those brain cells for school tommorrow?

SA: shawd-aap! 3y3 n0 whut 3y3em duing!

Bulma: oooookay then... you're the author...


	6. Room Warming Gift

The sequel to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are not mine, they belong to Akira. No, not THAT Akira.

Chapter 6: Room Warming Gift

Dashi swept the last bit of dirt and plaster into the dust pan and dumped it in the trash. She was standing in one of the newly constructed bedrooms of Capsule Corp acting out her 'punishment'. You see, Bulma didn't know how to treat Dashi, she didn't know what category she should place her, so she fell back on what she knew - parenting. The older woman decided to act as if this Saiya-jin was one of her own, and what do you do when children are disobedient? That's right, you ground them. After lecturing the poor girl for half an hour, Bulma sent her to 'her room', which was an utter mess at the time but had all four walls so she couldn't complain.

Dashi pulled the futon from the hallway and laid it out on the floor. She sat on the mat, exasted. It had taken a good three hours to clean that room and Dashi felt unusually tired. Her stomach gurgled.

Oh yes, and Bulma said she couldn't have dinner that night. "That's just plain mean," the teen grumbled while hugging her legs. The days seemed to be growing colder and Dashi needed new clothes, she still didn't have shoes. "Maybe Bulma can help me get something, like last time." The memory of that shopping trip so long ago brought a smile to the girl's lips but it dropped as she remembered the current citation. "Okay, maybe not like last time..." She fell onto her side, still hugging her legs as a deep sigh escaped her lips.

'Dashi.'

The girl jumped at the whispered voice, looking around for someone. It took only a few moments of searching to realize that the disembodied voice was speaking in her mind. She could have kicked herself for forgetting about the re-bonding that had started only a few hours ago. 'Yeah Trunks? What is it?'

'Is there anyone coming down the hallway?' The familure voice asked.

Dashi got up from her futon and opened the door, looking up and down the empty hall. 'No,' she replied while closing the door again. She heard a sliding sound and felt the cold night air on her back almost immediately. Dashi turned around in time to see Trunks closing the window he had just entered through. The saiya-jins smiled at one another and stood still for a few seconds. "Trunks," Dashi spoke in hushed tones, "What are you doing in here?"

"I'm sneaking you some food," He answered while fishing in his pocket. "Mom can be really strict sometimes and she really has no right to punish you. She's not _your_ mother." The situation that would cause Bulma to become Dashi's mother shot through the girls head and she blushed deeply. "Found it!" Trunks declared and looked up with a closed fist. "It's a good thing I brought you food, you seem a bit flushed, Dashi." The girl's cheeks burned deeper and she shook her head.

"N-no, I'm fine." She insisted. "What's that thing?" Dashi moved closer and peered at the small tube-like object in Trunks's hand.

"It's a capsule, haven't you seen these before?" When Dashi shook her head, Trunks simply demonstrated the objects purpose by clicking the top and giving the tube a gentle toss. When the smoke and giant BOM, no, I kid. cleared, in the capsule's place sat a basket. Trunks picked it up and handed it over to the girl. "Its just water, bread, and some fruit- not really a lot but it should be enough for tonight." The boy turned around and opened the window again.

"Wait!" Dashi grabbed Trunks's sleeve and he turned to face her. The girl blushed slightly, feeling slightly foolish. "Would you... like to eat with me?" Trunks looked at her for a bit but soon smiled and closed the window.

"I'll have a little, I already had dinner after all and I don't want to take your food." Trunks followed Dashi to the futon where they both sat.

Dashi opened the basket. "But isn't this technicly your food?" She removed the 1 liter of water and two cups. She stopped and looked at her peer. "You were planning on this, weren't you?"

Trunks gave a sly smile. "Maybe just alittle" The teenagers ate and chatted about nothing in particular for quite a while, just enjoying eachother's company and basking in their presance.

Dashi gave out a quiet yawn which she tried to hide behind her hand. 'Why am I so tired...?'she asked herself while blinking off sleep.

'Jet-lag maybe?' Trunks remarked to the thought Dashi forgot wasn't her own.

"Jet-what?" Dashi asked out loud.

"Never mind," was the answer as Trunks started to clean up. Once everything was packed up, he started to rise but once again Dashi caught his arm.

"Don't go yet, you make the room warmer than it is. Please stay until I fall asleep," Dashi pleaded. Trunks then noticed how cold the girl's hand was and assumed the rest of her body was the same. He marked it as strange since he didn't feel the slightest chill in the room.

He didn't answer, he just sat back down and placed an arm around Dashi, rubbing her arm to warm her up some. With his foot, he brought the blanket closer and draped it over the two of them with his free hand. "Dashi?"

"Mmm?" Dashi snuggled her head on Trunks's shoulder and closed her eyes.

"I was, um, thinking about... things, and I realised that we never discussed our... feelings for each other." Trunks cleared his throat which seemed to have grown smaller somewhere in the last sentence. "Now, I don't know how you feel about me, but what I do know is, Dashi, I-" he turned his head to face the girl, a heavy blush resting on his cheeks. His face faltered, however, once he noticed that Dashi was sleeping. He laughed quietly to himself. 'Of course, once I get the courage to actually talk to Dashi about this, she falls asleep on me.'

He sifted around and lay the sleeping teen correctly on the futon, readjusting the blanket to cover her and tucked her in slightly to make the most of the covering. Trunks positioned himself on the floor near Dashi's head and gently brushed the pink hair from her closed lids. He watched her sleep for a moment, the rhythmic breathing calming him and giving him courage to speak to Dashi, even if she was asleep and couldn't hear him. "I've been thinking about us, Dashi. I realized that we've never mentioned our feelings to each other, never defined our relationship, but I know what I think of it..." He paused and ran his fingers through her soft bangs, as if the contact gave him the energy to continue. "Dashi, I love you," He whispered in her ear, hoping it would sink into her self-conscious and stir her awake to reply, but no such luck. Trunks rested his forehead on her's for a moment and closed his eyes. Feeling bolder by the action, Trunks sifted his head and kissed Dashi softly on the lips. He pulled away after a moment and wondered why he never had the courage to do that while she was awake.

He stood up quietly and opened the bedroom door, deciding it was better to let in a little light then more cold air, and walked into the hall. Trunks turned around to close the door behind him when he noticed, thanks to the hall light, what appeared to be a smile on Dashi's sleeping face. 'Maybe my message did get through...' he thought and shut the door quietly as to not wake his sleeping Beauty.

end chap

SA: Man, it's a good week for story updating. I'm just ignoring the fact that it is now midnight and I have school in seven or so hours. ;

I would go put this up now, but the pc with internet (I use my 10-year-old laptop to type, not good for much else I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean to be cruel, please don't crash) is shut down. I'll upload before school then.

Seacrest out!


	7. Its a Good Thing

The sequel to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: Toriyama-sempai is a rockin' manga artist and I would never take credit for his fine work.

A/N: YEA! Cookie! devours cookie thank you Nekosune! And Shibichicken, yes, this is the fic where the girl is full saiya-jin with the weird timemessed-up thingy. nodds and downs milk

Chapter 7: It's a good thing...

"Lets see, lets see," Bulma muttered as she dug through her closet, tossing random articles of clothing behind her. Dashi stood to the side, some what unnerved and embarrassed. After breakfast that morning, Dashi had asked Bulma for some warmer clothes and possibly shoes - willing to work for them, if it was needed. Bulma had simply grabbed the girl's hand and dragged her to her room. This wasn't exactly the way Dashi had expected to get clothes, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Here's a pair of pants... looks a little big for you though..." Bulma balled up the pants and tossed them to Dashi. "Dang, it doesn't look like I have any long sleeved shirts..." The mother pulled back from the closet and stood with a dark blue shirt in hand and started to nudge the rest of the clothing into the closet. "All I have that's even remotely warm is this turtleneck tank." She handed it to Dashi and as an after thought added a belt to the pile. "Go see what fits," she commanded and pointed to the bathroom. Dashi nodded uneasily and obeyed.

Dashi came out of the room after a few minuets, feeling very odd to be wearing Bulma's clothes. The shirt fit fine and was quiet warm, all it needed was sleeves, but the pants were a bit loose and too long. Dashi had to roll the top of the pants around the belt and roll up the pant leg some so she wouldn't step on it. "Are you sure it's alright I take these?" Dashi asked timidly.

"Of course, of course," Bulma waved her hand around and shut the closet door wither her hip. "I think these are your size," she said, pointing to a pair of Capsule Corp boots on the floor. Dashi sat on the bed and slipped on the boots, when she found that they did fit (maybe a bit big, but hey, room to grow) she strapped them and flipped the pant leg over. "Looks nice and warm, Dashi, now let's see about finding you a jacket." Bulma left the room fully expecting Dashi to follow, which she did.

The blue-haired woman pulled open yet another closet door and kicked out boxes that were in her way. At the top of one box Dashi spotted a jacket that looked to be her size. As Bulma searched the dark mini-room, Dashi tried on the thin jacket. Despite its appearance, the top was really quiet warm and comfortable and it relaxed Dashi right away. "Is it okay if I take this one?" Dashi asked meekly, drawing Bulma's attention, "It's warm, like someone's holding me."

Bulma gaped for a moment but quickly smiled sweetly at the girl. "Of course, no one wears that one anymore." Bulma pushed the boxes back into the closet as she thought of the jacket's former owner.

"Mom, I think I actually brought you a good sample this time!" Trunks declared as he entered her lab with a glass tube in hand. He walked over to his waiting mother and handed over the dark liquid.

"Excellent!" Bulma cheered, "Um, is this supposed to be... blood?" She peered at the substance and swirled it in the tube. "How'd you get this? Usually the samples you bring me are charred."

"Well," Trunks started, not meeting his mother's gaze, "I knew that you really needed a good sample so I held down one of the creatures as best I could and drew out the 'blood' while it was still alive."

"But that was dangerous, Trunks! I can only imagine how you held it down; you stood on it, didn't you!" Trunks found something very interesting on the ceiling, or so it would seem, as he still avoided his mother's gaze. "I knew it, how reckless! We still don't know what they are and you got that close to one?" Bulma yelled at her only child while starting the analysis. Trunks winced. He had hoped that the joy of getting a good DNA sample would out-weigh the worry and anger.

"He isn't hurt though, isn't that what's important?" Dashi walked into the room quietly and stood by Trunks. Trunks smiled at her, thankful for the support. He then realised something and turned more to the girl.

"My old jacket looks better on you then it did me." He smiled; glad Dashi had gotten warmer cloths seeing as how cold she had been getting lately.

"This is - you don't mind, do you?" Dashi felt even more uneasy.

"No, no, it's perfectly okay, "Trunks assured, "besides, it's not the first time you've worn my jacket."

"Yes," Dashi said with a blush, "only this time is under a slightly less embarrassing situation." The two laughed slightly, remembering Trunks's first day of school and their meeting in the hall outside of the girl's locker room.

"What was the first embarrassing situation?" Bulma asked with peeked interest. The teens blushed, neither willing to say. Remembering that Dashi had been locked out of the locker room in only a towel was one thing, but to tell Bulma - especially new Bulma - about it was completely different! Bulma watched the pair scworm. "Oooh! Now I HAVE to know." She continued to press the issue and might have eventually gotten an answer if the computer hadn't beeped at her. She swirled around in her chair, clicking and typing madly at the computer.

Trunks and Dashi bowed out gracefully and left Bulma to her work. The pair wandered around for a bit and finally sat down in the living room on the couch. "Even though I helped you out with Bulma," Dashi started, "I do worry about you when you're gone." She scooted closer to Trunks and grabbed his hand. "I have faith in you, in your abilities and strength, but still I worry."

Trunks tightened the hold and placed his other hand over it. "I don't mean to make you or Mom worry, just like you don't mean to worry, but I'm glad you do - understand?" Dashi blinked at him. "Aright, I'll explain. Worrying is a sign that you care. All day as you were worried that I might get hurt, I was worried about you being cold. See?"

Dashi blushed slightly and smiled, moving as close to Trunks as she could. "Then I guess I'll always be worried about you."

"Me too," Trunks let go of Dashi's hand and looped his arms around her, holding her close, "except when I have you like this."

End chapter 7

SA: A-ha! If I work the 45 minuets I have between school and work on my fics then I can get them out! Sweet-ness!

If anyone cares to note, I have spent the past 3 days at the FCCLA spring conference. Now, I'm only in FCCLA b/c my teacher said it was a requirement to be in Culinary Arts (evil Ms Link!) but I'm glad I went. I may have sliced my thumb on a torne knife, broken my CD player, and gotten fairly ill, - leaves for work. comes back four hours later -what was I saying? Oh yes! I got a silver ranking in the culinary competition. Hazaa!


	8. confessions and revelations

The sequel to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: how many times do I have to say this, I du'n own DBZ! QUIT HOUNDING ME!

A/N: GGRAH! I was typing and had three paragraphs done when my laptop suddenly shut down - I hadn't saved! TTTT not fair, not fair! Now I have to _try_ and re-do those paragraphs... sob

Chapter 8: Confessions and Revelations

Dashi slowly opened her eyes, not remembering falling asleep. She looked around to find she was still in the living room; she looked down to see she was now sitting in Trunks's lap. She blushed and shyly glanced up at Trunks who smiled meekly. "I- I didn't mean to, I don't think," Dashi started but the boy just shook his head.

"It was just as much your move as it was mine, and I don't really mind." Trunks stroked Dashi's soft hair, completely at ease around her. Dashi however was still blushing as she sat across her peer's lap with her back against the arm rest. 'Is something wrong?'

Dashi shook her head in response and Trunks tried to figure out why she was so uneasy. He relised that he was equally as nervous around Dashi only a few days ago but he had stopped being so when he told her... Trunks smiled sweetly at the girl who looked back into his eyes with deep affection.

"Hey, Dashi, remember a few nights ago when Mom wouldn't let you have dinner and I brought you some?"

"Yes, I'm glad that you stayed with me." Dashi's blush lighten, but still remained.

"That night I started to talk to you about something important and you, well, you fell asleep before I could finish." Dashi winced and started to apologize but Trunks waved it away. "I figured we could finish talking about that now, if that's alright." The girl nodded and Trunks blushed despite himself. "I know that you care about me, and you know that I care about you, but I don't think you know how much. I care about you more than anyone else because ... because I love you, Dashi."

Dashi's eyes widened and began to tear. "Trunks... are you... you mean it?" Trunks nodded and placed a hand on Dashi's face, wiping a tear away with his thumb. The girl buried her face in Trunks's shirt and cried. "Trunks, I ... for so long I've..."Dashi choked out with her voice racked with emotion,"...I love you, too..."

Bulma rubbed her tired eyes beneath the glasses she had been forced to wear two hours ago when the screen became too blurry to read. It was very late - or early - depending on how you looked at it. She yawned and leaned back in her swivel chair, reaching for her mug which was set on a near by stool. She sipped the coffee and instantly lurked forward to spit it back out. "The smurf things gotten cold, I HATE cold coffee." She stood to dump the liquid, every joint popping as she walked.

It had been a while since Bulma had worked so late. Sure, when the creatures first arrived Bulma worked like mad to figure things out but she had hit a brick wall some time ago. Now, however, her son had provided the wrecking ball needed to plow down that wall and continue her work. Bulma grabbed the coffee pot from the warmer and held it over her now empty mug. She looked at her mug, then the pot and shrugged as she sipped the caffeine concoction straight from the pot. The genome decoder program Bulma had been running finished in her absence and proudly displayed its findings on the monitor. Bulma's jaw dropped, as did the half-full coffee pot which shattered and sent coffee across the floor and soaked the legs of her jumpsuit, but Bulma didn't mind the hot beverage. She stared at the very, very familure DNA sequence and scientific name displayed on the screen.

"That... that can't be right..."

Dashi had calmed down but her golden eyes still twinkled with emotion. Trunks started to lower his head to meet hers, but stopped and pulled back, unsure. Dashi sensed his intentions and closed her eyes, tilting up her head. Trunks lowered his head once more and closed his eyes as the space between them shortened. Dashi's heart began to beat faster and faster, air became harder to get but finally their lips met in their first official kiss.

The girl's heart stopped and her lungs seemed to close all at once. Fire shot through her veins, igniting her skin - she wondered if this was what it was supposed to feel like - it hurt too much. As quickly as the pain had started, it stopped and Dashi's heart started again. She gasped air once her lungs opened and held her chest. Trunks looked at her worriedly, but Dashi smiled wearily. "I'm afraid I messed that up, somehow. I just haven't been feeling 100 lately..." the girl rubbed her neck and looked shyly at Trunks.

"You have been a bit under the weather, I'll help you to your room." when Dashi made no sign of moving, Trunks simply picked her up and carried her out of the room. Soon Dashi was set in bed and Trunks was preparing to get some shut-eye himself when Bulma burst into his bedroom. "Mom, what is-?"

"I need your help, Trunks. You're not going to believe what I've found."

End chapter---

S.A.: yes, short, I know, but it's a cliff hanger - DUMDUMDUUUUM! Poor writing in parts b/c I'm no good with mushy stuff (most likely b/c I've never had a boyfriend. all I know about lovey-dovey comes from anime 99;)

Big things are gonna happen in chapter 9, so watch out!


	9. Sickness

The sequel to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, especially since dragon ball is most likely older than me.

A/N: So sorry for being mean to you guys - I gave you a short cliffhanger and then update late? My creative juices haven't been flowing lately and I've been getting really bad headaches so computer work can be somewhat painful. BUT enough with the pity-party, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 9: Sickness

Trunks smacked his cheeks in an attempt to focus on his work. It's not that he was tired - how could he even think of sleep? - no, the teen was just a bit overwhelmed. Bulma had made an important and startling discovery about the creatures Trunks had been slaying left and right.

They were human.

Yes, they WERE human, but the creatures had been mutated somehow and could no longer be defined as such. Still... Trunks felt a certain level of guilt for killing so many of them- there might have been a way to change them back and return them to their families. Trunk looked back to the computer with his fire re-kindled. He might not have been able to help before, but now if the Briefs could isolate the source of the mutation they could find a way to reverse and prevent it.

Dashi stumbled into the room then, sweating and looking like she hadn't slept a wink. Trunks stood up, drawing Bulma's attention, and hurried over to the girl. He led her to one of the cots in the room and helped her onto it. "Dashi, do-?"

"-Do you have a fever?" Bulma shoved past her son and placed the back of her hand to Dashi's forehead. She withdrew it quickly, as if she had touched a burner. Bulma's started to give a comforting pat on the hand and promise the best of care, but she found Dashi's hand just as hot - if not more so - then her head. "I-I guess you do." The mother rubbed her own hand and thought of the best way to help. "You need to break the fever, right?" She muttered to herself, trying to recollect from her own school days. Trunks hardly got sick - injured, you bet but sick, no. It was odd how Bulma remembered the difficult, technical, aspects of medicine and biology but forgot the simpler ones. "Yes, yes deffinetly. Fight fire with fire, right?" She smiled and instructed Trunks to get more blankets from the storage room. Because of all the late hours Bulma worked she often found it hard to make it up those stairs at night, so she had some beds set up in her work room.

Dashi rubbed the back of her neck and looked up apologetically. "...I'm okay," she whispered through a tight throat, "You two can go back to working. It looked important..." Bulma took a thick blanket from Trunks and dropped it unceremoniously onto Dashi. The girl struggled against the comforter and found her arms too weak to move it. It was dark as a sudden wave of claustrophobia hit Dashi and she struggled even more. Suddenly, a flash of light and cool air hit the girl face as Trunks lifted the fabric up, glaring at his mother.

"Care to repeat that?" Bulma asked coyly as she straightened the blanket and tucked it around the girl. "I can multi-task, just watch me." Trunks was about to add something when the phone rang. He answered it quickly, nodded, and turned to Bulma. "Another one? It can't be helped..." Bulma looked at the computers and then smiled at her son. "Like I said, I can multi-task. Don't let your guard down because of what we found out. They are still dangerous." Her expression was stern and Trunks nodded while hanging up the phone. Bulma walked back to her work and cracked her knuckles. It was a bad habit, one she picked up from her late husband.

"Dashi, get better, okay?" Trunks brushed the wet hair from Dashi's face and frowned in concern at how hot she was. "I'll check with the doctors in town before I head back, alright?" He started to bend down but Dashi lifted the blanket over her face.

"..Don't, I might get you sick too..." She reasoned. Trunks nodded slowly and left for another extermination.

+ 

"I've got it!" Bulma cheered and jumped from her chair, sending it crashing to the floor and jostling Dashi from her short nap. "The high level of white blood cells... the anti-bodies fighting each other... it makes sense! It's a disease, a virus!" Bulma jumped and clapped, feeling giddy as a school girl. "I've just about isolated the virus itself, just a bit more... a bit more then I can work on the cure. After the cure I could make an immunization, the infected area still isn't that large, considering the whole planet." Bulma continued her chatter and didn't notice the figure behind her.

Thin fingers found their way around Bulma's throat and squeezed tightly. Bulma grabbed at the hands, tugging desperately in a futile attempt to free herself. Her knees were weakening and she found no air in her lungs. She could feel the inevitable pass-out closing in. But suddenly the air came rushing in and the hands fell away. Bulma fell to her knees and coughed, rubbing her neck.

Sutlach stood beside her, panting and glaring at the figure he had thrown against the wall. The figure rose slowly, its white crowned hair over its face, but Bulma recognized her attacker. Sutlach flung himself at the figure and reached for a weapon from his tool belt. 'Hammer, okay.' he thought and gripped the handle tightly.

"Sutlach, stop!" Bulma cried, her throat still sore.

"What for?" The construction worker retorted and slammed his hammer, missing the target and knocking a hole in the wall. "No prob, just drywall." He told himself and swung at the figure again. The figure lifted its head and glared at the large man with black eyes. Sutlach was pleased that his opponent was not as strong or quick as he originally thought and before long had the thing pinned to the ground and his hammer reared back, ready to strike.

"Sutlach, its Dashi! Stop!" Bulma shouted, much louder this time, causing her to cough once more.

The man stopped and turned to the woman. "You can't be serious... its not..." He turned back to the pinned female figure and studied it. The long hair, though pure white on top, was indeed the same pink as the teenager he had met earlier that week. The body seemed the same, perhaps a bit tanner, but not as dark as the eyes. The white of the eye was now black and the golden pupils had grown to a dull pale yellow with no iris at all.

Trunks came back heavy hearted. He had killed another person who, if only a few weeks later, he might have been able to save. The doctors also had no idea what could possibly be wrong with Dashi - it was too extreme a fever to be anything they heard of. The teen went back to the lab and found it strangely empty, and strangely messy. His keen ears picked up voices from the medical room- had Dashi's condition gotten worse? Trunks rushed to the other room and burst in to find the construction group and Bulma around a gurney.

Bulma stepped back, needle in hand, and sighed. "I think that should do it, she should be out for a good while." the woman turned to the door and her son. "Trunks..." The group turned around as well.

"Mom, what happened? Where's Dashi? Is she okay?" Trunks had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Even when Dashi was asleep, he could still hear some of her subconscious thoughts, but for the past hour or so he heard nothing, no matter how hard he tried.

"Well..." Bulma and the group stepped aside, revealing the gurney and the girl strapped down to it. "I took a blood sample and-"

"Dashi!" Trunks was at the bed in a second and looked the Saiya-jin over. "Mom what happened?" He turned to Bulma quickly, "why is Dashi strapped down!"

"We... we had to," Bulma's hand touched her neck and she looked away, "She was out of control."

Trunks studied the scratches and still visible hand prints on his mother's neck. "You don't mean that Dashi..." The teen suddenly became angry," Dashi would never hurt you; it had to have been someone else!" Trunks shouted, outraged that anyone would accuse Dashi of being so violent.

"I saw it, it was her." Sutlach said in a low voice. "If I didn't show up when I did, your stupid girlfriend would have killed you mother."

"You're wrong!" Trunks snapped and used all of his strength to NOT slug the older man.

"Normally, yes, I agree with you," Bulma started and placed a hand on her son's shaking fist, "I haven't known her for long, but Dashi does seem very kind. I..." Bulma looked down and took a breath, "I took a blood sample and compared it to the one you brought me the other day from 'you-know-what' and... it would seem that... Dashi, she's been infected."

Trunks starred at his mother. It wasn't true, it couldn't be!

Trunks turned to the sleeping girl with a devastated look on his face. When could she have gotten infected? Not from the sample, she never went near that... she had been with Trunks practically the whole time since he found her- Trunks froze and his eyes widened. "It's my fault..." he whispered to no one, but was still heard by the room."If I had gotten to her sooner, if I found her before she was attacked that night..." Trunks slumped against the wall. 'I should have sensed her presence. I should have realized she was back... ' The room grew quiet and the men looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They had declared themselves big brothers of this demi-saiyajin, but they were at a loss of any action or words to give the boy.

"I have isolated the virus in the sample you gave me, so maybe, if we work hard, we can get Dashi back to normal." Bulma smiled hopefully at her son. "She doesn't seem to be at all like the others, so maybe this is still an early stage of the virus, which would mean 'more susceptible to a vaccine'." Trunks looked up at his mother, thankful that through everything he had to endure in his life, Bulma was there to help him through it. The teen smiled timidly as a fire sparked behind his clear eyes.

Yes, he was very grateful.

End chap 9

SA: So, how was that? Worth the wait? I'd just like you all to know that this chapter took 1 Avril Lavigne, 1 blink 182, and 2 Mediaeval Baebes cds to write. Actually, I still have 6 tracks left on the second MB cd... anyways... um... what was I doing again? gosh, my headaches block my memory sometimes.

why am I listening to music?

Hey, its 107 in the a.m.


	10. Breakthrough

The sequel to Lavender and Pink...

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, but I did just hang a DBZ poster on my anime wall. It's under my signed Amano wall scroll and next to my Inuyasha poster, so that helps it blend in to the over all shoujoshity of my anime wall.

A/N: Yum! Cookies! gobbles gleefully Ah! Is that yanyans I spy? I would prefer Pocky, but beggars can't be choosers!

If this is late, I'm sorry. I finally got over that writer's block for my other DBZ fic and was so happy with the reviews that I updated it a second time within 14 hours. Soooo, maybe if I get lots of pleasing reviews I will do the same with this fic. -,6 maybe.

Chapter 10: Breakthrough

All the simulations were successful. A piece of the initial sample had been cured. Now was time for the field study. Trunks waited impatiently for a call. Yes, there was a victim to the infection just across the room, but neither of the Breifs wanted to risk worsening the girl's condition by giving her an incomplete antidote. They didn't know exactly what would happen after the injection, hence the reason that Trunks was rocking back in a chair under the phone. 'It figures,' Trunks mentally griped, 'when you don't want something it's everywhere, but the second you need it-' His thoughts were cut off by the ringing he had been waiting for. Trunks quickly answered and got the location - it wasn't too far. "I'll be right there." The boy hung up and turned to the sedated Dashi hopefully.

"Is it-"

"Yeah, Mom. Give me the vaccine." Trunks rushed up to Bulma and slid the small case containing a dose of the vaccine and the device to administer it into his jacket pocket. He stopped and carefully pulled out something that Bulma had seen several times before, but never knew what it was. Trunks walked back to Dashi and carefully placed the ribbon in her hand before turning back and rushing to the target before it had a chance to escape.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Trunks had successfully lured the creature away from any witnesses and was now in the process of restraining it without hurting it or being hit himself. It took some time, but soon the victim was pinned to the ground. Holding it steady, Trunks pulled out the case with one hand and slid the vial into some sort of gun. Waiting only long enough to take a steadying breath, Trunks placed the nozzle of the gun against the victim's jugular and squeezed the trigger. A hissing sound shot from the gun and the creature jerked violently. Trunks continued to hold it down as the muscles twitched and contorted, the skin stretching and shrinking; the figure returned to its human form once more and lay unconscious on the ground.

It worked.

Trunks stood up and shakingly placed the gun and case back into his pocket.

It worked.

He smiled and placed his hand on his forehead. He felt relieved and anxious all at once and speed off to go help Dashi, leaving the sleeping man on the outskirts of town where he should be found in a few hours.

"You're serious!" Bulma cried happily as she fumbled to get a new vial into the gun. It had taken almost a week to get to this point, during that time Dashi's condition changed little - her hair grew whiter and skin darkened, but that was about it. The girl would often wake in a fit of rage, pulling hatefully at the bed's restraints, but always quickly sedated... which seemed to be less and less effective.

Bulma handed the gun to Trunks who nodded and walked over to Dashi. He gently brushed the bleached strains from the girl's neck and timidly placed the gun against her large vein. "It's okay, you'll be better soon," Trunks assured the sleeping figure and injected the fluid into her bloodstream. Dashi's eyes shot open at the sensation and started screaming, twisting her head and trying to grab at her neck as the fire shot through her body. Trunks looked at her worriedly and backed away. "Its.. its different. She isn't changing like the other... she's just in pain." Trunks spun around and faced his mother, anger and confusion forming tears in his eyes. "Why is it different!"

Bulma shook her head. She had no idea why the reaction would be different. "It's the same vaccine attacking the same virus in the same spe-" She stopped in mid sentence and looked at Trunks before turning and running back to the lab. Trunks rushed after, hating to leave Dashi in pain, but wanting to know how to fix it. "I'm stupid, so stupid!" Bulma pulled up the file on the sample and Dashi, both looked similar. The woman glared at the data and went back to the blood slides. She checked the sample Trunks had gotten her, and then slid in the sample she had taken from Dashi the week before. Bulma paused and looked at the data, them back to the slide.

"What, what is it?" Trunks practically yelled.

"It just accrued to me that the vaccine might not be working because Dashi is Saiya-jin, not human." Bulma said quietly as she stepped back from the microscope.

"Well, we can find the vaccine for Saiya-jin's then, right? It shouldn't be hard after we made the human one, right?" Trunks knew that if it were that simple then Bulma would already be at work. There was something else.

"The.. the sample I took from Dashi... it's changed. Over just a week, it has mutated so much." Bulma motioned for Trunks to take a look and he did. "I thought it was odd that it was taking Dashi so long to become one of the creatures, it seems that her Saiya-jin immune system has forced the virus to mutate to survive. I'm not sure if I can work fast enough to make a vaccine for this current stage!" There, she said it.

Bulma watched her son's shoulder's drop and the room fell silent. They could still hear Dashi's screams from down the hall. "Are you just giving up on her then?" Bulma was taken back by the uncharacteristically meek voice of her son.

"Of course not,"Bulma straightened and crossed her arms. "You know I love a challenge, how could I let a simple thing like this stop me? Besides, if I let Dashi go then I'll never have any grandkids." She peaked an eye at her son who was now smiling sheepishly with a small blush on his face. Bulma knew she was right and knew she had to be strong - for her son, and for herself, but most of all for Dashi. She rolled up a sleeve and headed out the door. "I'll go put her under again and take a new sample."

Trunks dropped into a chair and leaned forward, hanging his head helplessly. "I've wasted so much time. I should have told her earlier, I should have spent more time with her..." He shook his head and stood up. A voice in the back of his mind whispered worriedly and he tried to push it back, but the chirping won't cease.

_What if you can never get her back?_

Bulma padded back into the lab and nearly walked right into her son. Both were out of it. The woman, praised as a genius by so many, doubted her own abilities. This was going to be more than she could handle, she knew that. She had her epiphanies and strokes of luck and knew her way around a hospital, but she was still no where near the level of expertise she would need to be to at.

"You know," Trunks said, pulling his mother back to reality, "There's no guardian of this world anymore. No magic wishes. None of the breaks and easy-outs that there used to be." The teen looked up, fiercely determined. "We can only rely on ourselves; we have to make our own magic now. Mom, lets do this."

The room was still for all but five seconds before it erupted in the beeps and clicks of determination.

'I'll show you, you stupid voice,' Trunks smirked to himself. 'I'll get ride of you soon and prove you wrong. The only voice I want in my head besides my own is Dashi's.' Little did he know, that was his voice - his voice of reason.

End chapter.

SA: How's that, hows that? Daisuki ne?

------ -- my head hurts... 11:45pm, I gotta be at work by 1030am. 99; hrmmmm... okay, I'll uplaod THEn go RIGHT to bed. really, I swear. Scouts honor. (Though, I was only a Daisy for one year, and then we moved...)

okay, so the PC shut down on me as I tried to upload last night. Now I'm squeezing it in before I have to get ready for work. sigh Why won't they switch me to part-time? groan


	11. Escape

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, but if I did then Trunks would so be mine, all mine! MWAHAHAHAHA!

A/N: I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY I'M SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY! It has been an entire semester since I last updated. Work and school took far too much of my time – but now I'm part-time and have three days off a week – one of which has no school! Waiii! This would be so much easier to type in if I hadn't lost the notebook with my hand-written chapters… I am afraid that I can not find a good excuse for my lack of updates over winter intermission; I'm just a bad author. weeps in the corner

Chapter 11: Escape

It had taken time, time they couldn't waste, to figure out both how often the virus mutated and to what degree. The changes were always just so slight that they could hardly be determined from one phase to another, but the difference was enough to render any aid useless if for the wrong stage. The mutations, however, seemed to be speeding up exponentially, getting closer and closer to each other which made the window to create and administer the cure smaller and smaller.

Trunks and Bulma were now waiting for the change to occur. The woman had constructed a simulation of the virus and made an educated guess as to how it should be after the next mutation. Confident in herself as always, Bulma had already put together the next vaccine. She stared at the small glass vials clarifying in the cabinet as her son watched the timer on one of the monitors diligently. The pair was silent in their observations – not wanting to look away for an instant for fear something would go wrong.

Trunks suddenly leaned forward in his chair, gripping both the armrest and an empty needle in his hands. The computer beeped and started the timer again, but for a shorter time, and Trunks bolted out of the room. Bulma turned as he left but quickly spun back around to the cabinet. Now it was her turn to lean forward. The liquid had gone from the vivid red, to a dull pink, and was starting to lose all color as a sign that it had finally been heated to the correct temperature and ready for use. Her teal eyes watched the vials intently and slowly made her way over, reaching out for the handle and the special prize inside. The cabinet pinged the moment Trunks returned and started to set the blood sample on a slid. His mother worked just as quickly to extract one of the vials and place some of the liquid onto the same slid.

The intelligent and world-renowned Breifs watched the slid on a monitor, waiting for something – anything – to happen. The clear liquid of the vaccine mixed into the blood almost instantly, coating and flowing across the sample. Suddenly, the cells they had predetermined as being the infected ones started to quiver and shrivel, collapsing in on itself and disappearing into nothing, just as the first vaccine had done to the original sample.

"I-It worked…" Trunks murmured while staring at the screen before him. "Mom, it works! You did it!" The teen embraced his mother tightly, all the frustration and doubt flowing out of him in that one instant. He released Bulma and smiled widely, earning a smile just as wide from the woman.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Bulma asked with a smirk – another habit she had learned from the great prince of the Saiya-jins. "Now, are you going to praise me all day or go cure your girlfriend?" Bulma loaded a vial into the gun-like administrator and handed it to her son who ran to the other room. Bulma followed with just as much excitement.

They entered the medical room and walked over to Dashi's side. Trunks looked the girl over and frowned at the welts and bruises around the restraints on her wrists and ankles. "It's going to be alright now, Dashi," he whispered softly while brushing the almost pure white hair off the girls tanned face. Trunks lifted the gun and pressed against Dashi's jugular vein, ready to pull the trigger and save the girl he loved, but a hand shot out and slapped the gun out of his hand. Dashi was awake.

The girl had somehow worked the bolts holding her arm restraints to the bed lose and she jumped into a crouch on the bed, desperately trying to remove the straps from her ankles before Trunks got over the initial shock and tied her back down. Dashi smiled once free and prepared to make a run for the door when Trunks grabbed her about the waist and pulled her backward onto the bed once again. Bulma picked up the gun and stood by the door. Dashi's yellow eyes widened at the sight of the gun, recalling the pain it had caused her last time and struggled violently, breaking from Trunks and rolling off the far side of the bed unrepentantly to meet the floor painfully. She growled and picked herself up quickly, seeing the window as a much better escape route than the dangerously guarded door.

"Dashi!" Trunks called and grabbed her hand from the window frame, jerking her closer to him.

"She has to be still or I'll miss the vein!" Bulma cried from the doorway. Trunks looked at his mother, then back to Dashi. He clenched his teeth. He would have to be a little rough with Dashi. The teen swiftly kicked Dashi's feet out from under her and she crashed to the floor once again. This time, however, Trunks was on top of her before she could get up.

"I'm sorry, but I had to do this." Trunks whispered to the girl under him. He held bother of her arms above her head with one hand and her head still with the other. Trunks was more of less sitting on Dashi's stomach and glanced over to his mother. "Come on, hurry up!" Bulma jumped slightly but nodded and rushed over just as a strange wind started to drift around the room. The window had not been opened, so where was it coming from? Where ever the origin of the invisible force its destination seemed clear as it began to encircle the two teens. "Hurry up, Mom!" Trunks called again, wondering if this wind was what he thought it was…

The wind went faster and faster, spinning in tighter and tighter circles, mesmerizing Bulma as she watched. It was flowing into Dashi's pinned form. "Mom!" Trunks called again, more forcefully this time as the rest of the wind entered Dashi's body.

Dashi closed her eyes and opened them slowly, looking at Trunks blankly before smiling and snapping her hands free. She quickly, and easily, shoved the surprised Trunks off and across the room. Dashi floated up and looked at Bulma. She pointed a finger at the woman and shot off a small ball of energy. The woman cried out and fell over. Dashi laughed and pointed the same finger at the window, blasting it apart and soaring through it into the night sky.

"Dashi!" Trunks called after the figure, then turned to Bulma. "Mom!" He hurried over and helped his mother into a sitting position.

"I… I'm alright." Bulma said, still a bit shaken. "It wasn't me she was after…" Trunks followed his mother's gaze to the smoking remains of the gun. "I think we have another one, so don't worry about me and just go bring her back." Bulma commanded but was taken back by the look on her son's face. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure if I can do that," Trunks meekly replied.

"Why not? I don't understand," Bulma stood up and looked at her still sitting son.

"Because… Because Dashi seems to have gotten her ki back and she was much stronger than me in the past." Trunks lowered his head. "I don't think I could force her to do anything and I don't like to either…"

Bulma looked at her depressed son sitting on the floor and frowned. "So? So you're just giving up?" Trunks looked up slowly. "Who said she got all of her strength back? If you're letting something as small as this stop you, then I guess you never truly loved her." Bulma finished with a sigh and shook her head disappointedly.

Trunks punched a whole in the floor, through the tile, the wood, and the concrete. "I'm not giving up; I'll never give up on her." He growled in a low voice. Trunks stood up quickly and glared at his mother with tears in his eyes. "I'm going to bring her back, so you be sure to have things ready." Bulma smiled and nodded as her son shot off after the sick girl he cared for so much.

"I knew that would work." Bulma said softly before leaving in search of another pressurized gun.

end chap

Toku tenshi: There we go, a chapter. I hope it's length makes up for its lateness… though maybe not.

Bulma: Of course not.

TT: Wah! Bulma's mean! TTTT

Bulma: Bad author, bad!

TT: Waaaah! sniffle


	12. Music of the Night

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. Yeah, I know, I had me going too.

A/N: No one reviewed the last chapter? What the Freak! I thought you guys WANTED more chapters, but if you aren't reviewing maybe I have no reason for bothering to upload chapters. Oh, I'll keep writing them, make no mistake about that, but if no one is reading them, then why take the time to put them up?

Chapter 12: Music of the Night

The night air was more frigid than it had been recently and was filled with a fierce, icy breeze. Dashi stood on some scaffolding and gazed out over the destruction on the edge of the city. The mounds of rubble had once been buildings that stood proudly, perhaps where this skeleton of a new one was standing now. Beyond the legacy of the Androids was a scorched land slowly licking its wounds and springing back to life. Her eyes took this all in, but she saw nothing.

Dashi's hair now looked as if someone had dumped a bucket of white paint on her head, the liquid streaking down unevenly into the remains of her pink locks. She felt so… unfamiliar to herself. Dashi raised her right hand, the leather cuff still in place, and frowned at the tanned skin she found there. Slowly, she opened up her clenched fist and her scowl softened considerably. Pressing her hand and the item she held with it close to her chest, the teenager sighed miserably and slumped down to sit on the metal I-beam.

Suddenly, a single clear note shot through the air and demanded the girl's attention. Dashi spun her head to face the direction of the sound. It was coming from beyond the city limits. What could have caused it, she had no idea and was about to dismiss it when it came again, this time lasting much longer. Dashi leaned towards the sound and found her lids grow heavy.

With so much of her focus on the repeating sound, Dashi failed to sense the approach of the fighter until his arms were already tightly around her torso, pinning her arms to her sides and sitting her up straight in one quick movement. "Dashi, you have to come back," Trunks said firmly. When no response came, he tried again. "You're sick, you aren't thinking straight. Mom and I found a way to help you. We can get you back to normal." Trunks felt the girl slump in his arms and he panicked over what he could have possibly done. "Dashi?" He asked, releasing his grip only slightly and moving to get a look at the girl's face. Dashi's eyes were closed and her mouth open slightly, sharp intakes of air were a clear, but disturbing, sign that Dashi was still breathing.

The sound that started as a faint, single note had become an overpowering symphony of pounding notes in an eerie minor. Dashi could barely move, hardly breath and if it wasn't for Trunks's firm grasp the girl would have surely fallen off the scaffolding. There was a meaning behind the music – a command the girl could not yet understand. Something, someone, was calling for her.

Dashi struggled to open her eyes, cursing her body for ignoring her own commands with each torturous lift. She found Trunks staring at her, fear in his eyes and determination on his face. Dashi opened her mouth to speak, but could not make the words come out. Aggravated, Dashi tried another way of communication and sent thought after thought to the male. His face looked surprised and Dashi sighed. Trunks was hearing her. 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!' the girl screamed in her head. 'I must have done something that was very bad to have been dealt with like this.' She lifted a strapped wrist and shook her head. 'I don't know what I did. I just remember landing here… what have I done? What's happened to me!'

Trunks quickly recovered from the shock of the bond once again linking the two minds and stroked the unnatural hair on Dashi's head. 'I suppose it makes sense that you don't remember. You are infected with a virus that is trying to change you but the saiya-jin body won't so easily be converted. The virus seems to raise the primitive instincts of the mind but when you got some of your ki back it must have boosted your control over the virus.' Dashi nodded her head; that made sense. 'We need to get back to CC right away! We have a cure for you there and you could very quickly be back to your old self.'

"Can you hear it?" Dashi asked out loud, surprised that her body would now allow her to speak. "That music?" Trunks strained his ears for a moment to listen, but heard nothing and reported that to Dashi. "I can… hear…" Dashi mumbled as her eyes lowered and head drooped. She was silent for a moment as the command suddenly screamed over the sound in her ears. "It's calling me." She whispered while sliding out of Trunks's arms too quickly for him to register and floated in the air above him. "It's calling me." She said again, a tear falling from one of her glazed eyes as she looked at Trunks. Her hand gripped the tattered ribbon against her chest and before Trunk could even stand up, she was gone. Wither she had teleported or simply sped away at an impossible pace, it didn't matter. She was gone.

Trunks stood on the scaffolding and looked over the city at the mesh of destruction and construction. He looked at the rocky terrain beyond dotted with patches of young plants. His eyes took it all in, but he saw nothing.

They sat together on the sofa, exhausted and confused from the resent set of events. "'Calling me'…" Trunks repeated slowly, trying to figure out what Dashi had meant. He hadn't heard anything at all and though he was only half-saiya-jin he still should have been able to pick up some hint of the music Dashi spoke of. He had tried several times to communicate with Dashi, but the bond was slipping in and out. He wondered if there was some sort of distance limit on the bond.

"Something calling her…" Bulma rubbed her eyes and slid farther into the cushions. "Calling her and only she could hear it."

"I still should have heard something. I'm not a full-blooded Saiya-jin like Dashi, but-"

"You aren't infected either." Bulma cut in as she pieced everything together. "She was being called by the creator of the virus, no doubt. If there was someone controlling the creatures than that would explain their organized movements despite the lack of rational thought."

Trunks sat up straight at turned sharply to his mother. "Why? Why would someone do that? Hasn't everyone suffered enough because of the Androids?"

Bulma sighed and looked at the teenager. "You have too much faith in people, Trunks. Remember, the Androids were built by a human and even though they turned on him, they did just what he programmed them to do." She turned away and looked at the floor. "Humans are horrible creatures that at times will thrive on the pains of others and use broken spirits to build up power. The aftermath of any disaster will always be seized as an opportunity for self gain and preservation by someone."

"If… if that person can get a strong enough hold over Dashi, there's no telling what he'll make her do." Trunks tried to recall which way the girl had been facing when he found her. Dashi was distracted by something; could it have been the music she was listening to? "Dashi gained back a lot of her ki and from that she seems to be more in control now but who knows how long that will last." He shook the thoughts from his head and tried to remember. At last it came to him but he sighed hopelessly. He didn't know what he would be looking for or how far it was. He may have narrowed it down, but ¼ was still a lot of ground to cover. Trunks stopped and looked at his mother. "If you were experimenting, wouldn't you want to watch the results?"

"Of course!" Bulma huffed. "How could I know if anything went wrong if – "She stopped and closed her mouth, understanding what her son meant. "The map!" She cried and the pair hurried over to the area map on the wall. Several different colored pins poked out from the paper, marking places where the creatures were sighted, rumored, or killed. A large red pin stood out from the rest – this marked the first appearance of the creatures. It was near the outskirts of town where few lived and an old subway rusted. "Around here somewhere," Bulma muttered as she fished for a marker in a nearby drawer. "I'd say he wouldn't want to be more than a mile away," she drew a circle as she spoke, "Any farther away and you can't get a radio signal out of the city."

"So," Trunks started while studying the map, "he's either in the city or just outside it. I'll go check right now." He turned to leave but Bulma stopped him.

"You need to rest first; just a small nap is all I ask."

"But Mom-" Trunks began as the woman shoved him to the couch.

"How long has it been since you got some proper sleep, hmm?" Bulma scolded while pushing the teen into a lying position "If you believe me or not you ARE tired and DO need sleep. Not only do we not know exactly where or who the idiot who made the virus is, we also have no idea what to expect." Bulma blew a wisp of hair from her face and crossed her arms. "If you don't go down peacefully I can always get some of those tranquilizers."

Trunks grumbled in defeat and readjusted the throw pillow under his head. "Fine, but don't let me sleep too long…" He didn't leave the woman anytime to respond before sleep took him. The blue-haired woman smiled sympathetically and slowly settled down in a chair for a little shut-eye herself.

8 8

Dashi glided down the hidden staircase into the darkened tunnel effortlessly. If she hadn't been told where to go, then the girl surely wouldn't have found the spot easily. The cracked tile and broken off segment of ceiling bothered Dashi little as her feet simply drifted over the rubble. The music was crescendoing with the notes jumping up the scale impossibly fast and stopped for just a second as Dashi reached a metal door and opened in easily. The sudden light stung her pale eyes and she looked away, raising an arm to block the brightness. The music started up again, slow and low in the last measures of the haunting piece that had guided the girl. She had finally arrived at the source.

In the large room were numerous computers and clear tubes filled with strange, different colored liquids. Theories and equations covered boards, walls, and parts of the floor that were carefully marked off. Several doors stood along one wall, some broken and most likely lead to nowhere. In the center of the room were a gurney, a few odd-looking pieces of equipment, and a tri-layered keyboard type instrument. Seated at the keyboard was a figure in a tattered and dirty lab coat. Dashi made her way over to the figure and touched down a yard away, her socked feet making little noise but enough to turn the figure around.

It was a man, middle-aged but appearing much older than he truly was. His dark grey hair was messy and hung over the left side of his face. He was startled, to say the least, and stood up from his seat quickly. "Wh-what do you want? How did you get here?"

Dashi slowly bowed her head and looked up at the man. "You called me," she replied simply in her sweet voice. The man straightened and cleared his throat. He walked around the girl, sizing her up and taking note of her many oddities.

This truly had to be one of his creatures. He smiled broadly and motioned to the gurney, indicating that Dashi should sit down. "You are not like the Others," he started as he once again sat by the keyboard, "what is your name?"

"Dashi." She said while floating up slightly to sit on the high hospital bed. The man was surprised.

"H-how did you do that?" He asked, getting up once again to re-check the girl for any device that might give her flight.

"I have always been able to do so. It is something quiet simple for my people."

The man stopped and leaned on the bed, starring at Dashi incredulously. "Your 'people'? You aren't from around here?"

"No," Dashi replied with a small chuckle, another thing that the Others never did, "in more ways than one I come from very far away." She turned to face the man and looked at him with half-lidded eyes. "I came from a planet called Vegeta and a time before the Androids attacked."

"Another time? Another _planet?_" The man stood straight and ran a hand through his tangled hair. "That would explain how you react differently to the Change. More than just your appearance, you act differently, much MUCH differently, than the Others." He continued to mumble to himself as he uncapped a marker from his pocket and searched for a clear space to write. The man scribbled insanely on a door for a few minuets before rushing over to Dashi and hooking her up to some of the equipment nearby. "Tell me, my Dashi, what else can you do?"

The girl tilted her head and smiled. "Would you like me to show you?" The man gulped. There was something in her tone… he nodded his head yes, despite the nagging in the back of his head. Dashi leaned forward and held up her left hand, looking at her palm. The man leaned in too and waited. He didn't have to wait long. Energy crackled in the open palm and flared into an unsteady looking bit of blue light. The man jumped back, and just in time, as Dashi closed her fist, sending the light into five angry streaks across the room. They whirled and darted across the space like psycho-fireflies until Dashi raised her fist and pointer her index finger to the ceiling where all the lights immediately struck in the same spot and made a mad-dash for the dark sky above several tons of rock. Dashi smiled and tilted her head again. "Would you like to see more?"

The man stood very shocked for some time, starring at the girl before him, wondering how much of her abilities and attitude were natural and what was due to the virus he had constructed. After some time he managed to shake his head in a 'no' and chuckle. "What a treasure I have found," he told himself while once again running his eyes over the teenage girl.

"If you don't mind, Master," Dashi started sweetly as she regarded the machines gathering whatever information they sought, "What may I call you? You know my name; I think it only fair for you to tell me yours."

The man smiled smugly. "Although I think 'Master' would do fine, I will grace you by telling you my name." He took Dashi's right hand in his own. "I am Mul Kimchi," he kissed Dashi's hand lightly and bowed, "my goddess Dashi."

End chapter.

SA: Dumdumdum! Dashi is in the hands of the enemy, literally! How can Trunks save her when he doesn't know where she is? It's been a while, but how about an interview? Tonight we have…. Mul Kimchi!

MK: Hello, miss author. It's so good of you to finally put me in the story.

SA: Honestly, I had no idea you'd be popping in… looks around

MK: You what! And I suppose now you're going to tell me that you came up with my name by randomly clicking around BIN-GO!

MK: Ahhh! I can't believe this! This is insane!

SA: no, YOU are.

Mk: nu-uh!

SA: yeah-huh!

MK: nu-uh!

SA: Yeah-huh!

(etc. etc.)


	13. The First Order

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: Nope. No legal ownership rights here, sorry to disappoint.

A/N: Ah! Sorry, sorry about the late update. I hit a writer's block (again) which put a firm halt on all of my fics. I'm over that now, hopefully. knocks on table

two reviews, that's better. (smiles happily)

Rob, thanks for the support of my seemingly struggling story. It's hard to have a Trunks/NOT-Pan story here, let alone a sequel to one.

And Lucifer001, I'm sorry I made you throw up… Mul is just a creepy guy, no way around it. (shrugs)

Chapter 13: The First Order

"Morning sleepy-head," Dashi smiled from above Trunks, her pink hair slipping over her shoulders and her pale face beaming happily.

Trunks shot up quickly from the couch and pulled the girl into a tight embrace. "Thank Kami, it was only a dream," he sighed and hugged Dashi tighter.

"What was?" Dashi asked innocently with her arms pinned to her sides. Trunks pulled back and studied Dashi closely. "Wh-what is it?" She stuttered with a heavy blush on her face.

Trunks laughed slightly and waved his hand. "Nothing. Just double checking, I guess." Dashi blinked confusedly at him and he laughed again. "Never mind."

"Was your dream that bad?" Dashi asked with concern, taking the boy's hand into her own and looking down.

"It was," Trunks relented and sat down on the couch, Dashi quickly sitting next to him. "I kept losing you," he said quietly. "Every time I thought I could get you back, something happened and you became farther away than before."

Dashi turned his head to face her and gave him a serious look. "You will never lose me if you keep trying – if you keep hope alive." She smiled and closed her eyes, touching her forehead to his. "Wasn't it '_Hope_' that brought you to me in the first place?" She pulled back and smiled sadly.

88888888888888888888888888888888

Trunks sat up and looked around the room as the bright beams of sunrise slipped in through the window. He found Bulma sleeping in a chair but no one else. He had thought she was really back, he had really thought nothing had happened to her. What he hoped was a dream was real and what wasn't real was the dream.

_'Wasn't it 'Hope' that brought you to me in the first place?'_

The teen shook his head and walked over to the area map. Dashi didn't know that the time capsule was named 'Hope', but in his dream that was exactly what Dashi was referring to. He stared at the circle on the map and smiled. He had to keep hope alive.

8888888888888888888888888888

"For what purpose am I to wear this again?" Dashi lifted her arms outwards and locked one knee, titling her posture to the side.

"There are, um, special nano-chips inside that will, uh, monitor your biological signs, yeah." Mul Kimchi fumbled. "So if anything bizarre starts to happen we can pinpoint and reverse it quickly."

The girl shrugged. "If you say so, Master." Mul smiled. He loved it when she said that word, especially in that outfit. The man had convinced Dashi to change into a tight fitting leather top which laced in front and a pair of shorts which barely counted as such. He gave her black boots for her bare feet and a pair of fighting gloves. Mul didn't care to disclose _how_ or _why_ he had such an outfit in his dirty lab so Dashi shrugged again and pulled her long hair into a high ponytail. The man held out another item for Dashi, but the girl turned her head sharply away. "I told you before, Master, I have no need for weapons – that thing will only slow me down."

"Bu-but!" Mul tried to explain that it had special features but Dashi wouldn't listen. He sighed in defeat and set down the whip. 'It was too much to hope for anyways,' he silently decided and moved away to turn on a projector. A geographical map lit up on one of the walls as Mul cleared his throat. "Let's move along to more important matters then. My creations are quite spread out right now; there are a few groups here, here, and here," Mul explained while pointing out different areas on the projected map. "Every last one of them are acting on their own – each dumber than the last," Mul sighed and rubbed at his eyes, "a flaw that, thankfully, is not manifested in you, my Dashi. I can not reach them as I did you no matter how many times I've tried. But you-" Mul looked at Dashi with a crooked smile, "They should respond to your orders as you are, more or less, one of them. What I want you to do now is gather them here and then direct them as I direct you. Is that understood?"

Dashi returned the smile with a confident smirk. "Consider it done, Master." The teen turned to leave but stopped and studied the whip on the table once again. She slipped the item into her belt loop and continued out of the room calling after that a whip might come in handy while herding animals.

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Just as Mul had said, a group of the Others was found near the amusement park. The rides no longer ran and people didn't go there anymore but that was understandable. Who had time for fun when there were monsters roaming around and people being attacked, never to be seen again? The pack, you could say, was huddled around a cherub fountain where they struck their heads into the pool to drink instead of using an instrument or even their hands. Dashi landed with a clack of her boots on the head of one of the stone angels, directing all attention onto her as the creatures surrounding her looked up at the intruder. Some began to growl deep in their throats while others bared teeth and claws.

"Oh please." Dashi smirked and looked around the group. Her pale eyes scanned for the alpha male and quickly picked out the larger beast. With a flick of her wrist, Dashi withdrew the whip and wrapped it around the creature's neck. She tugged effortlessly on the handle, yanking the beast into the fountain completely. Another flick and the whip folded back into the girl's waiting hand, but not before snapping the thick neck of the former leader.

The creatures stared at the limp body in the fountain and jumped back when Dashi leapt from the fountain ornament to the back of the corpse. "I'm in charge here, understood?" Remarkably, they did and backed away respectfully. "Good. Now then, follow me." Dashi started back to Mul's lab as she put the whip away. A smaller creature seized the opportunity and tackled Dashi. The girl sighed angrily and used the beast's momentum to flip him over onto its hairy back. "Idiot. Don't think that my whip is all you have to fear." Dashi crushed its throat with her boot and quickly shot a small energy bolt into the corpse, causing it to explode slightly. The teenager turned to the group behind her and smiled dangerously as the gore dripped off her face and torso. "Master's waiting, no more delays, alright?"

The creatures hurried after the dangerous girl like a stampede, tripping and stumbling over one another in an attempt to be in the head of the group. Dashi turned around from her point position in the air and sighed irritated at the sight before her. She slipped out her whip and cracked it in the air to get the groups attention, which she affectively did. "I want you all in two single-file lines. Now hurry it up before I get angry." She ordered with what looked to be a sweet smile on her gore spotted face.

The group scrambled once again but this time they filed into the lines as directed with no fights breaking out as the figure in the air watched them closely. Once in line, Dashi nodded her approval and lead the way to Mul's lab. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered what Mul was going to do once he had all of his creations but that thought didn't linger long as the Saiya-jin quickly came to the realization that she didn't care.

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Trunks silently searched the first pie-piece of the suspected area for both hide outs and creatures. The area consisted mainly of an amusement park with a few abandoned businesses on the outskirts. He had heard that this park was home to a fairly large group of the creatures, but for all his sneaking and silent creeping he might as well have stomped around breaking things. The park was completely and utterly deserted of any life.

The teen came upon a cherub fountain at the back entrance of the park and froze for a moment. He looked around quickly to confirm that he was the only living being around before moving to the fountain to inspect the first corpse. One of the largest creatures he had even seen lay in the pool of the fountain unmoving. Its eyes and mouth hung open under the water with its neck in a position that clearly read broken. Trunks walked around the fountain and found a second body, or what was left of it.

"Was there a fight in the group?" Trunks wondered out loud as he leaned closer to study the human sized creature. "Maybe this one tried to take over the group by attacking the larger one… but then why is the large one dead too?" The teen squinted at the shredded torso and pulled back quickly as he figured it out.

"This wound came from the inside – something exploded inside of it. I don't think that they're as stupid as to swallow live, lit, explosives so that means this was a ki attack." He jumped into the air and frantically searched the area from his position over the fountain. Not many people in this era knew how to use their ki, so that had to mean that it was, "Dashi." Trunks clenched his teeth after finding no trace of the missing girl of any indication of where she went and sat down heavily on the fountain's edge. He glanced at the corpses out of the corner of his eye before looking ahead. Trunks straightened instantly and looked at the dead again. "There are only two here and this is supposed to be a large group. If Dashi really went to the person who started all of this, if she is following his orders… are they gathering up the creatures? Why didn't that person do that before?" Trunks ran a hand through his hair and sighed irritated.

Trunks jumped at the sound of his watch beeping and nearly fell into the fountain. The teen soon calmed and turned off the alarm as he stood up. He was about to sigh again but the air caught in his throat as he remembered what his alarm was set for. "Dashi!" He called out worriedly as loud as he could in hopes that the girl would respond from where ever she was. The demi-saiya-jin raced home as fast as he could to discuss what he'd learned and switch out the item in his jacket pocket. Dashi was going through another change and if she was indeed leading a group of the creatures while that happened, who knows what the creatures would do to her?

End chapter 13

SA- Ah, once again, sorry for the late update! I hit a part in this chapter and then completely blanked. But, it's done now, though maybe a tad on the short side. Sorry about that, but I needed to end the chapter there because I'm evil and like to cliff hang (repelling is fun!). I promise to update another chapter before Otakon weekend, which I am DEFINITELY going to this year. I'm registered, have hotel room planned, and have my plane ticket. I asked off from work a month ago but my Assistant Manager over my area still hasn't approved it yet. He's going on vacation soon, so he better do it quickly!


	14. Changes

Sapphire and Gold

By Toku Tenshi

Disclaimer: I don't own anything – ANYHTING – alright? The extent of my DBZ stuff is a key chain, a 2 t-shirts, and a preview issue of Shonen Jump.

A:N/ Gasp. I got a review – and from a new person to boot! Hazaah! I'm totally inspired to write now. My chapters aren't too long because I have it set in mind what events need to happen in what chapters and while writing, no matter how hard I try to stretch things, I can't seem to get over 5 pages in Microsoft word! This chapter isn't too long either, but the update is definitely fast, right?

Chapter 14: Changes

The humming and buzzing of the various machines in the room were drowned out completely by the blood cuddling scream emanating from a single, shaking form. Dashi hugged herself tightly as she lay on the dirty tile floor in a tight ball in the vain hope of dulling some of the pain. Electricity jumped through her body and fire shot through her veins as the very skin concealing it all burned uncontrollably. Sucking in a sharp intake of breath, the girl tried desperately to keep the next screech silent. It appeared to work for a moment as she bite her lower lip, drawing crimson blood that dripped out of her quivering mouth. The pain racking her tan body grew too great to contain any longer as the girl let out another agonizing scream.

Mul Kimchi watched in fascinated horror as Dashi thrashed in pain. He had thought the girl was invincible – completely and utterly void of any weaknesses – but there she was, crying at his feet.

When Dashi had returned from her little mission, she was perfectly fine in every way and smirked widely as she reported her success. One minute she was smiling smugly, the next she collapsed to the ground in pain. It was all very new to the scientist as he tried to figure out what could have possibly triggered such a reaction from his goddess. Try as he might, Mul couldn't bring a thought to his head with Dashi screaming as she was. The man grew frustrated and grabbed the stool. "Shut up!" He yelled angrily as he smashed the stool across Dashi's shaking back and head. To his amazement, and relief, the girl fell silent against the cold floor.

Mul's shoulders heaved up and down as he calmed himself and set the chair down. The man sat on the stool and sighed in the quiet. A moment or two passed before his eyes glanced at the still form on the floor. Shooting up with the sudden realization of what he'd done, Mul rushed over to Dashi and checked her for injuries. A large welt had formed on the back of her head and she looked to be unconscious. Mul quickly carried the girl as best he could, which was more or less dragging her, across the floor and into his bedroom. He dumped her on the bed and tossed a blanket over her as he paced back and forth.

His wanderings pulled him back into the main room where his eyes drifted over the many notes scribbled by his own hand. "What could have happened?" He mumbled as he searched the walls and boards. "That attack she had was strange enough, but then I was able to knock her out. No matter how mad I get, I shouldn't be able to muster enough strength to make _her_ unconscious." He wondered for a moment if he had become stronger, but quickly dismissed the crazy notion. The only explanation for the second mystery was that Dashi had gotten weaker. "It is quite possible that she became weaker because of that pain she was in, but why was she suddenly in pain?" The scientist turned sharply around and opened his eyes to find himself face to face with the observation notes of the original subject, his former lab assistant.

Numerous observations were listed neatly on the clip board, each starting with the time of the event. Flipping through the pages, Mul recalled that once exposed to the virus, a human subject took approximately one day to fully change, each hour bringing him closer and closer to completion. Mul lifted his eyes from the paper and stared at the open doorway where Dashi lay asleep. "A _human_ subject... but my Dashi is not human."

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"And you're sure Dashi killed them?" Bulma asked as she pulled three small vials out of the clarifying cabinet.

"As best as I could be without having been there," Trunks ran his hand through his hair and leaned against the wall. 'There goes two more people who could have been saved.' "I explained to Dashi before she ran off that she was infected with a virus, I guess she didn't realize that the same virus is what made the creatures."

"Didn't realize," Bulma started as she slipped the vials into the small carrying case along with the replacement pressure gun, "or didn't care?" She turned to her son with stern, serious eyes. "We determined that the virus brings out the primitive, survival parts of the brain, haven't we? For Dashi, that's probably like being a normal Saiya-jin back on Planet Vegeta. I've only seen a few Saiya-jins in my life, but your father was more than enough of an example of what they could be like. From what Goku and Krillin, rest their souls, told me of his first visit to Earth… well, Dashi's actions don't seem that strange at all - especially if she was following orders."

Trunks slammed a fist backwards into the wall. "Smurf. This guy must be pretty powerful to be able to order Dashi around."

Bulma shook her head as she walked over to her son with the newest cure. "From what you told me, he wouldn't have to be strong at all. Dashi is most likely under some type of subconscious hypnosis. I actually think that we should be grateful that this smurf is sending her on little gathering missions, if that is what's going on, because it gives us another shot at finding her." Bulma motioned for Trunks to follow as she picked up a pen and made her way over to the area map. "If we stake out areas with large creature populations, like here, here, and here," she drew 'x's by three pin marks, "then we could catch Dashi while she's away from the one giving the orders. See?"

"I get it," Trunks mumbled as he took the pen and made some more 'x's. "We'll also be able to tell where she's been by whether or not the creatures are still there. If so, move on to the next spot and wait." Trunks smiled at his mother, the quest now seeming much more realistic than before. All he had to do was wait for Dashi while hiding from the creatures, surprise attack her, and hold her still long enough to administer the cure. His sapphire eyes lowered and his smile contorted into a frown. It was hard enough with both of the Breifs trying to hold down an infected Dashi and give her the shot, but now that Dashi had her ki back and since Trunks couldn't even think about bringing his mother to such a dangerous place… "We need a new way of delivering the cure." Trunks turned to Bulma and stared into her eyes, watching the wheels turn in her head as she began to think of a simple and effective way to help the girl.

Bulma nodded and turned a paper clip from the counter over in her hands as she thought. "I'll think of something new, don't worry, but for now I'll also keep up with this method's antidotes. Its better to have the correct dose for the current stage than to have nothing at all, right?"

"Right, please do that Mom," Trunks nodded and slipped the case into his jacket pocket before turning to leave.

"Wait a sec," Bulma dug inside the deep pocket of her jumpsuit and pulled out something. She tossed it to her son, which he easily caught. "It's a food bar," she explained. "You haven't eaten yet and need to be at the top of your game, right?"

Trunks smiled and nodded again before once more rushing out of the building and taking into the air. Bulma watched him leave silently for a moment or two before shaking her head and smacking her cheeks. "Right, right. No time for spacing out, I need to get to work!" The woman glanced at the heat cabinet and the several levels of tiny vials. The bottom row was a murky purple color with each level above it growing steadily clearer and colorless. These were the future antidotes for Dashi and descended in order. Bulma's eyes fell to the bottom row as she chewed her lip nervously. "I hope we can help her before we reach the last row…"

Shaking her head to rid herself of the negative thoughts, Bulma tried to devise a new way to administer the cure. The fastest way was still by introduction into the blood stream through a major artery, but that only gave someone three tries to find and utilize a major artery. Missing the vein only lead to a 15 chance of the drug properly circulating through her system. If all three attempts missed, that was still only a 45 chance of success and it would be quite possible that the virus could mutate again to avoid becoming destroyed. If the Virus mutated again, then all future cures were useless and the time needed to construct new ones, let alone attaining a good sample to analyze, would be too much.

An air-borne method might work if it was made dense enough to lay ten or so feet above ground and coat the ground as well. "But Dashi can fly, right? She could just jump over that." Bulma groaned and scratched her head. "Maybe if a devise was thrown at her and it released the gas on contact, she couldn't avoid the gas then – she could avoid the initial throw though or even destroy it all together." The middle aged woman groaned loudly and rubbed her hands furiously through her blue hair. When she finally stopped, her hair was tangled and sticking in all directions, making it look as if she'd just woken up from a fitful sleep.

"I gotta think of something quickly so I can get to work on it! How could anyone possibly introduce a foreign substance into an unwilling Saiya-jin!" Bulma growled in frustration and balled her hands into fists. Her eyes sprung open as she studied her hands slowly. "Against a Saiya-jin…" She smiled as a plan formed itself and rushed over to the computer to begin work.

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Dashi stirred and opened her eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. It was a dark room with sparse furnishing: a metal frame bed; small book shelf filled with books, papers, and clothing; and a burnt out floor lamp. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Dashi tossed off the blanket and silently wondered why she had her boot on if she had gone to sleep. "You're awake now? Good." Dashi turned her head sharply to the open doorway and the figure standing there. "It had been a while since I knocked you out; I was beginning to worry a little." Mul moved over to the girl and tilted her head down to take a look at the welt still present above her neck. He touched it lightly and sighed silently when Dashi didn't wince. She seemed back to normal.

"You knocked me out, Master?" Dashi stared up at the man's face with her head still down, a look of awe visibly present.

"Well, yes, I did." Mul shifted slightly as the girl looked at him with something he had never seen before. What was it? Why was she looking at him that way? The man's eyes widened in realization and looked down briefly before smirking at Dashi. It was respect that she was showing him. That look was something he had always wanted. "Sorry to have done that, but you were making such a racket, Dashi dear, that I couldn't think. Try to be more quiet."

Dashi gave a firm nod before speaking in a soft voice, "Master must be truly strong." Mul almost didn't hear her comment.

"Not that quiet, Dashi dear," He smiled widely to himself as he left the room, Dashi in tow. He decided to let the girl think he was stronger than her. That way, he reasoned, she would be far easier to order around and far less likely to leave. Mul looked behind him with a twisted smile. Now that he had Dashi, he didn't want to ever let her go.

End chapter 14

SA: Gah! This is short too! Curse it! Oh yeah, if anyone forgot about the smurfs – they're back! I don't swear, so I put 'smurf' in place of swear words.

Jimi: What about the other day?

SA: GAH! Jimi from Lavendar and Pink! How'd you get here?

Jimi: doesn't matter. Now, about the other day.

SA: What about the other day?

Jimi: you swore.

SA: 00 WHAT! Nu-uh! I haven's swore since I was 10, and that was only c-r-a-p.

Jimi: I keep telling you, 'crap' isn't a swear word… anyways. At work? That customer looking for shirt boxes?

SA: Hmm? You mean the lady with the short temper who didn't speak clear so I didn't know what she was talking about?

Jimi: yep. And her husband was yelling from the end of the isle at you? They walked away after you kept telling her that you didn't have any and you heard the husband say 'What? No speak-a English? Freaking Mexicans.'

SA: That guy! I'm not even Hispanic! Just cuz I have long black hair and my name is Angelica (no 'h' sound, it's a 'g') he thought I was Hispanic!

Jimi: yeah. They left, you turned around and muttered under your breath, 'freaking b8str8d.'

SA: I-I-I-I 8blushes in frustration8 its all Naruto's fault! I've watch 189 episodes in under a month! 8tries to misplace blame8

Jimi: you swore at a customer during work after not swearing all those years. All those 'freaking', 'shoot', 'dag nab it', 'gosh darn it', and 'geez luise' go right out the window.

SA: shut up! I hate you! 8runs off8

Jimi:… turns to reader oh, if you stuck around for this, then please review the chapter. The main reason why it takes so long for potty mouth over there to update is she gets so little reviews she doesn;t think anyone is reading her work.


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